Trans Universe

By Monica F. Helms

   On Wednesday, October 1, I will be on a plane heading west to Southern California.  A Beach Boys song keeps ringing in my ears, “I wish they all could be California Girls!”  Ah, yes.  California girls.  My mind does wonder at times.  I will be in the San Diego area, the place I lived when stationed on the USS Flasher (SSN 613.)  I have several trans friends who live there and I plan on seeing them.

(Break)

The reason I will be going west while many of my transgender friends arriving in Atlanta for Southern Comfort is that my oldest son, Robert, gets married that weekend.  While the Saturday Night Gala at SCC goes on just a dozen miles from my home, I will be 3000 miles away at the wedding reception for my straight son and his new bride, surrounded by most of my family.  What a thrill.

I am actually very proud to be at my son’s wedding, because it says a lot about his acceptance of me.  I will be in amongst his bride Olivia’s family, some of which have never met me and probably don’t wish to.  It might be a bit too much for them to handle Robert’s transsexual Dad, especially when I will be wearing a long, black, backless evening gown.  They’ll just have to live with it.

I have to laugh about the wedding sometimes.  I am going to California to attend a straight wedding.   Straight people actually do get married in California.  Who would have thunk it?  But, I will be a bit sad missing my first SCC since moving to the Atlanta area.  And, the good thing that comes out of all of this?  I’ll get to avoid running into some trans people I don’t want to see, while getting to meet up with trans friends I do want to see.

 One of the most interesting things to happen to me lately is that I joined the American Poolplayers Association (APA,) on a women’s league.  In the last few years, I have been playing pool on such a regular basis that I have actually become a decent player.  When I visited Phoenix this past April, my nephew Aaron took me to a place where I could buy my first pool queue.  Aaron is nearly a pro and he also gave me some very important tips that have helped me improve my game.

This past Wednesday, I went to a place called Fat Cats to join the APA and play with other women members.  I have to thank my best friend Angela for giving me the idea to join a league and my co-worker, Eiko for introducing me to the group at Fat Cats.  I had a fantastic time.

The highlight of the evening was when I played my first official round to help me establish my Skill Level.  Every new APA player starts off at a Skill Level 3, and based on how they do, they can go up or down.  Being a new player, I had to play an established person and in order for me to win the round, I had to win three games and she had to win only two.

This woman was not a bad player and I could see that we had about the same Skill Level.  I ended up winning three games in a row, two of them with the eight ball being the only one on the table.  On one of my wins, I made a shot where I banked the eight off the far bumper to angle it into the corner pocket on my right.   It was a shot I had practiced many times in the past and can make every so often.  It felt good when it went in.

The women meet every Wednesday night at Fat Cats, so it looks like I will have my Wednesdays all planned out.  I’m even taking my queue to California with me so I can stay in practice.  I guess this will be a fun trip after all.